The present invention is directed toward a device for lifting modular furniture or the like and, more particularly, to such a device comprising a base member, an elongated member pivotally connected to the base member and a furniture engaging portion rotatably mounted to one end of the elongated member.
The use of modular furniture in office buildings has become quite common. It is utilized to conveniently create individual offices without requiring permanent walls. Modular furniture comprises a number of equally sized panels, each having a pair of hanging tracks secured to opposite sides thereof. Each hanging track includes a metal strip having a series of vertically coplanar elongated slots. Shelves, desks and the like are equipped with hooks that are designed to mate with the elongated slots.
The floor on which the furniture is placed is often covered with a number of carpet tiles. When the carpet tiles require replacement, the modular furniture has to be moved. This can be achieved by physically dismantling the furniture and moving the individual partitions from the area that has to be re-carpeted, laying down new carpet tiles and then returning the furniture to its original configuration.
A more efficient, cheaper and less disruptive way to recarpet the floor is to lift the partitions off the floor so that the old carpet tiles can be removed and new ones installed. This can be difficult since the individual partitions can be quite heavy. Accordingly, a number of devices have been developed to facilitate the lifting of this type of office furniture. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,846,443, 5,181,694 and 5,234,197. A common drawback with the devices disclosed in each of these patents is that the lifting of the individual partitions is accomplished by inserting a bracket underneath the bottom of the partition and raising the bracket upward. Accordingly, a significant amount of force is placed on the partitions themselves. Since the base of the partitions are commonly made of plastic material, permanent deformation is a frequent occurrence.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,643 discloses a lifting device which comprises a jig attached to a conventional jacking mechanism. The jig includes a number of vertically coplanar hooks that are adapted to mate with slots in the furniture to be lifted. However, the hooks are not designed to accommodate the changing forces applied during the different stages of lifting. Moreover, the base member is not sufficiently spaced from the jig to avoid interference with the carpet tiles that are to be replaced.